Lawmakers in Chihuahua have asked federal authorities to ban the game due to its themes that reflect the current crime situation in Juarez

An
upcoming Ubisoft video
game, which closely resembles the real crime and murder taking place in the
Mexico border city of Juarez, has critics upset to the point where some want
the game banned.

The video
game is "Call of Juarez: The
Cartel," and it contains themes of murder, torture and kidnapping
in regards to the war between drug cartels within the city. The game is an
update to an Old West series previously made by Ubisoft, and is now set in
present-day Juarez.

Juarez
has consistent problems with drug cartel violence and is one of Mexico's most
dangerous cities. Currently, the Juarez cartel and the Sinaloa cartel are going
head-to-head in a turf war in this particular region, fighting for drug-dealing
territory and prime smuggling routes within Juarez. During the first 40 days of
this year, the average number of people killed in Juarez was about eight per
day.

To make
matters worse, Juarez just experienced one of its bloodiest weekends yet. Over
a three-day period this past weekend, 53 people were killed in Ciudad,
Juarez.

Reyes-Ferriz
noted that Ubisoft's new video game based on crime and murder within the city
will not only raise a sensitive subject for its citizens, but will also reinforce
certain negative ideas about the city to those outside of Juarez.

"Of
course, it is something that those of us who love our city don't like at
all," said Reyes-Ferriz. "It's something that demeans our city."

Reyes-Ferriz
isn't the only one who feels this way. On Sunday, lawmakers in Chihuahua
requested that federal authorities ban the game in Mexico. Chihuahua
congressman Ricardo Boone Salmon stated, "It is true there is a serious
crime situation, which we are not trying to hide. But we also should not expose
children to these kind of scenarios so that they are going to grow up with this
kind of image and lack of values."

The Facebook
page for "Call of Juarez: The Cartel" has also received criticism
from gamers.

"Doesn't
it seem a little socially irresponsible to capitalize and/or glorify what is
ACTUALLY happening (violence, murder) because of the illegal dug trade in North
America?" said a user on the game's discussion wall. "If this game
doesn't have a strong 'illegal drugs should be legalized so that there is no
crime related to drug trafficking' theme, then I'm boycotting Ubisoft
forever."

Reyes-Ferriz
had hoped that all the criticism would make Ubisoft rethink the game's release,
but believes that it's probably unlikely that they won't sell it at this point.
The game is already available for pre-order and is set to go on sale for the
Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles this summer.

"I
know the process is not month-to-month or week-to-week," said
Reyes-Ferriz. "I know it takes a couple of years to do a project like
that. I think with all the headway they have, there's not going to be much that
can be done."

In
response to all of the negative views regarding the new game, Ubisoft released
a written statement saying that the game was in no way meant to directly
imitate or mock the events occurring in Juarez.

"'Call
of Juarez: The Cartel' is purely fictional and developed by the team at
Techland for entertainment purposes only," said Ubisoft in its written
statement. "While 'Call of Juarez: The Cartel' touches on subjects
relevant to current events in Juarez, it does so in a fictional manner that
makes the gaming experience feel more like being immersed in an action movie
than in a real-life situation.